The National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) announced on Tuesday that it has lined up 55 flagship projects within President Rodrigo Duterte’s term. These projects are worth more than P1.2 trillion. Read on to learn more about it.

Here are three things to know about NEDA’s 55 project lineup that is worth above P1.2 trillion:

1. Approximately 23 NEDA flagship projects are worth P1.2 trillion.

Around 23 of the 55 projects lined up by NEDA will cost P1.2 trillion. Meanwhile, the cost of the other 32 projects has yet to be determined. There will be some feasibility studies that must be completed before they can determine how much it would actually cost to start the rest of the projects.

2. The approval of the 55 flagship projects may drive spending to as much as P9 trillion.

NEDA Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said that the projects that the agency has lined up could end up costing the country as much as P9 trillion. The list of projects was cleared on Tuesday during the NEDA ICC-Cabinet Committee (Cabcom) meeting. It includes the Bases Conversion and Development Authority’s (BCDA) Clark Green City. It would be presented for approval in April, during the next board meeting of NEDA.

"These are catalytic projects," The Philippine Star reported Pernia as saying. "These will encourage other developments."

In order to finance the 55 flagship projects, the agency must use loans from multilateral development banks and official development assistance. Plus, it still needs to have public-private partnerships and general appropriations to make the projects happen.

Other NEDA projects

The other projects of the country’s independent cabinet-level agency include the North-South Railway Project-South Line, the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project in Quezon that is worth $374 million (P19 billion) and the $53.6 million (P2.70 billion) Chico River Pump Irrigation Project in the provinces of Kalinga and Cagayan. NEDA officials said most of the agency’s projects are connective infrastructure. This will help the countryside grow and develop further.

Jonathan Uy, NEDA director for public investment, also said that they are committed to completing these projects during Duterte’s term in order to meet their infrastructure targets. If it really can’t be finished by that time, they are hoping to at least ground break on the projects. As for the Public Investment Program (PIP) project lineup, including farm-to-market roads, Uy said that they will continue with it.

NEDA ICC-CC's new P2.5 billion project cost threshold

According to NEDA’s official site, the Investment Coordination Committee–Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC) recently approved a new project cost threshold of P2.5 billion. From now on, projects that cost below P2.5 billion require certification to prove that it is consistent with the Philippine Development Plan/Results Matrices/Public Investment Program as well as the mandate of the implementing agency. It must also be approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) based on its performance indicators. Meanwhile, capital projects that cost at least P2.5 billion must have an approval by the ICC, except as otherwise provided by law.

What do you think of NEDA’s 55 project lineup that will cost more than P1.2 trillion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The National Economic and Development Authority drafted its development plan, which is aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and the Duterte administration's aims to reduce poverty rate in the country.

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